


unforeseen consequences

by Kangoo



Series: Front toward enemy [25]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Shadowkeep, just the universal experience of eternal queue, no spoilers though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 10:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20851622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kangoo/pseuds/Kangoo
Summary: or: who gave razel his flying license and how can we get it revoked





	unforeseen consequences

**Author's Note:**

> i got disconnected and ended up 3627th in queue while [arcquos](https://twitter.com/ArcquosDraws) was still running around collecting bounties, and then we thought about 'what if lek's waiting in orbit while razel's running around trying to find the keys to his ship'
> 
> and then he got disconnected too and ended up 6718th so i wrote that instead of screaming in frustration

Lek is sitting in the cockpit, ankles crossed on the control board as she stares off through the window. Every light is in the green. Everything is running smoothly, the engine a low hum in the background as the ship orbits Earth.

She sighs and looks up at the moon, hanging in the empty sky. Everything’s in the clear, except one teeny tiny little detail:

Where the _fuck_ in the world is Razel?

“Hey, Holliday?”

Amanda looks up curiously at Razel.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in space already?”

“Yes, so, about that.” He rubs the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. “I can’t get into my ship.”

She frowns. That’s… unusual. He sleeps in there, usually, so if he could get out but not back _in_—

She doesn’t know whether to be worried, amused or annoyed. But that’s just Interacting With Razel 101, so she takes it in stride.

“I’ll take a look at it. Lead the way.”

He takes her to a Mayfly-class ship — but she knows, from the first look, that something isn’t right about it.

To be precise: that’s not his ship.

“It’s _blue_,” she groans, gesturing at the ship. “You never bothered to paint yours because it gets scraped too often. You live in there! How did you not notice that!”

He looks away, awkwardly humming under his breath. She knows he’s not really bothered by the situation, and neither is she, really, but she appreciates the attempt. It _is_ a little irritating when he looks at her scary face and doesn’t react at all.

It takes her about fifty seconds to find Razel’s ship. It’s easy: it’s the one that looks like it’s just been in a dogfight. She doesn’t bother to put him back into top shape anymore. Cosmetics will just get burned, shot or blown off in a matter of days, and it’s _really_ expensive to keep replacing them.

She crosses her arms and watches him input the door code. The light flashes red, letting out a shrill beep.

“Are you sure that’s the right code?”

He nods. “Yeah, see?” He gestures to a scratched out part of the paint — a string of numbers. “I wrote it there so I wouldn’t get locked out again.”

She ignores the _again_ part, and the sheer idiocy of just a move. Not like anyone would ever dare to break into Razel’s room. The guy’s a bit of a legend. Not sure he’d still be that respected if they knew how much of an airhead he is, but the tall tales are a decent counterbalance to the dumbass choices he makes on a daily basis.

“Let me try.”

She punches in the code and watches the light flash red again. Then, slowly, she turns her head toward Razel.

He has that look on his face that she recognizes as his… well, not _guilty _look, more like his ‘trying to make himself look like a competent adult’ look.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I… maybe….. might have been a little drunk last night-” He glances at her and adds, “Alright, maybe a lot drunk. So. I tried to go home, right? And the code didn’t work the first time. Or the second. Or the- well it didn’t work any of the times I tried it, and then the door locked because I got it wrong too many times or… something…”

His voice trails off at the end, or maybe it gets muffled by the hand she slaps on her face.

“You locked yourself. Out of your own room. Because you were too drunk to read a series of six numbers.” He nods. “Where did you even _sleep_?”

“On a bench?”

She takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, and whispers, “Of course you did.”

Eventually, she hacks into the door controls and forces it open. And then she changes the code to six zeroes.

Just in case.

“Amandaaa,” Razel whines.

“What?”

“My ship won’t start.”

Amanda Holliday closes her eyes, begging the Traveler for patience, before turning around to face Razel.

“Did you enter the launch code? You can’t start your ship without the launch code.”

He blinks, then smiles.

“You’re right! Thanks, ‘manda. I owe you one.”

She watches him run off, hoping — pointlessly — that this will be the last she sees of him today.

“Amanda.”

She sighs. “Yes?”

“My ship still won’t start.”

“Is your license still valid? You know you have to update it every time your ship gets totaled.”

“Ah. Hum. Be right back.”

“Hopefully not.”

“A-_man-_da!”

“_What_.”

“I don’t know why my ship isn’t working!”

“Did you recharge the fuel cell?”

“Oh. I… may I have an idea why my ship isn’t working.”

“Am-”

“I swear to the Light, Razel, if your ship still isn’t working I _will_ break your knees. I have a _lot_ of work to do for Guardians who are shipping out tomorrow and _your_ ship is in the best shape it’s probably ever been since you got your hands on it and-”

He raises his hands, placating. “I’m just here to say good-bye! It’s all working fine. I swear.”

Her shoulders drop. “Sorry. I’m-”

“Stressed, I know. Don’t worry about it.”

That gets her to smile. Say what you want about the guy, he does know her well. “Did you finish your pre-flight checklist, at least?”

“Cubix’s taking care of that.” He drags her in a sideways hug, pressing a brief kiss to the crown of her head. “Take care of yourself, yeah?”

She pinches his side. “I should be the one saying that! Be careful out there.”

“Aren’t I always?”

She gives him a deadpan look. He chuckles as he lets her go.

Amanda watches him go, waving enthusiastically at her before stepping into his ship.

She watches him all the way out of the hangar, allowing her to see him ram the left side of his ship in a wall on his way out, stopping him dead in his tracks and almost tearing out the wings in the process. The ship starts to slowly tip over the edge/

Amanda doesn’t move as engineers rush forward to catch it with steel ropes. She just… breathes in, and out, and tries not to scream.

Proximity alarms ring briefly and Lek gives the radar a single glance to check the ship’s manifest. It’s not the first Guardian she crosses path with in the last few hours, and at this point she’s stopped hoping, so she has to do a double take to make sure it’s really Razel. Then she looks through the window and, yeah.

That’s Razel alright.

“Damn, buddy, wasn’t your ship in repair like, last week? What happened?”

“Unforeseen complications,” he says, saying it like it’s something he’s heard a lot lately.

“What kind of complications ends with your wings literally _duct-taped_ to the rest of your ship?”

He hisses through his teeth, uncomfortable. “I don’t want to talk about it.”


End file.
